Closure for nursing bottles and the like



FelmZZ, 1938. J; LITTLE CLOSURE FOR NURSING BOTT LES AND THE LIKE Filed Dec'. 19, 1955 Inveafof W 5 fizzum/ 722's Worney Patented F eb. 22, 1938 Jesse Little, Warwick, R. I., assignor to Dave! Rubber Company, tion of Rhode Island Providence, R. I., a corpora- Application December 19, 1933, Serial No. 703,145

2 Claims.

My present invention relates to closures for nursing bottles and the like, and has particular reference to improved constructions for nipples and caps which facilitate their application to and removal from the bottles.

It has been found desirable to place a finger tab or the like on closure caps and on nipples, in order to permit the user to apply and to remove same without touching or otherwise contacting the remaining parts; and illustrative tabs suitable for this purpose are disclosed in U. S. Patent Nos. 1,583,019 and 1,748,731.

The tabs heretofore used, however, have been fiat and have extended at right angles to the cap or nipple body, whereby the user usually pulls the tab outwardly in order to apply or remove the cap or nipple. I

The most effective manner of removing and of applying a cap or nipple is by a twisting movement; since the heretofore utilized tabs do not readily lend themselves to such movement, it is the principal object of my invention to provide a tab arrangement which is designed for, and in fact suggests a twisting movement.

I have therefore positioned a tab on a cap or nipple base at an angle thereto, so that grasping of the tab between the thumb and forefinger of the user places thefingers in twisting position, and the resulting twist becomes a natural act. I have moreover found it advisable in certain instances, particularly in the case of Wide mouth caps and nipples, to weaken the side walls of the base in order to facilitate twisting, as by reducing the cross-section at right angles to the tab position.

With the above and other objects and advantageous features in view, my invention consists of an arrangement of parts more fully disclosed in the detailed description following, in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, and more specifically defined in the appended claims.

In the drawing,

Fig. l is a front elevation of a nipple having one form of improved tab;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section on the line 2-2 of ig.

Fig. 3 is a front elevation similar to Fig. 1, but illustrating a modified tab arrangement;

Fig. 4 is a vertical section on the line 4-4 of Fig.

Fig. 5 is a front elevation of an improved nipple and tab construction having an undulated base;

Fig. 6 is a vertical section thereof on the line 66 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a bottom plan view thereof;

Fig. 8 is a front elevation partly broken away, of a novel wide mouth nipple construction; and

Fig. 9 is a bottom plan view thereof.

The ease of applying and of removing a cap or nipple, hereinafter referred to generically as cover, from a nursing bottle or food cell, has been increased by utilizing a finger tab designed to suggest a twisting action instead of a pulling action for the application or removal. I have therefore devised a tab arrangement whereby the natural and instinctive action on the part of the user is to twist the tab instead of pulling it, by setting the tab at an angle to the plane of the cap or nipple base.

I have illustrated the novel tab arrangement as applied tonipples, it being understood that the application to caps is identical. Thus the nipple I0, see Fig. 1, has a tab ll formed integral with the base l2, the tab being set at approximately forty-five degrees to the plane of the nipple base; the tab is preferably rounded slightly to be better grasped between the thumb and forefinger, the latter being set in twisting position upon such grasping.

A modified arrangement suitable for either a right or a left twist is shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the double or V tab is being adapted for grasping by either a right handed or a left handed person. Or the tab may be gently curved, see Figs. 5 to 7, for the same purpose, the entire base M of the nipple [5 or cap being also undulated to correspondence with the curvature of the tab Hi.

In certain constructions, and particularly with large size, wide mouth covers, it is also desirable to reduce the thickness of the side walls of the base in order to facilitate twisting. Thus Figs. 8 and 9 illustrate a construction in which the base l8 of a Wide mouth nipple I!) has an angularly disposed tab 20, the side walls 2!, 22 being relatively thin. This side Wall weakening is also of advantage when utilizing the previous type of tab designed for pulling, as the side contraction during pulling and the resultant holding pull are decreased.

It is thus evident that setting a tab at an angle to a cover base has resultant advantages of great practical value because the nipple and cap are twisted in applying or removing; and that reducing the cross-section of the side walls facilitates the applying and removing. While I have described specific structural embodiments of my invention, the invention is not restricted to any particular cover formation, and desired changes in the shape of the tab and its angularity and in 2. In a cover for a nursing bottle, a base engageable with the bottle neck, and a tab extending outwardly from said base and inclined at an angle to the plane of the base, the walls of the base 90 degrees from the tab center being of less cross-section than the Walls of the base at the tab center and 180 degrees therefrom.

JESSE LITTLE. 

